Advanced Medical Support Assistant-Primary Care

This occupational series is eligible for the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP). Repayment is limited to $10,000 annually, up to $100,000 in lifetime awards. Participants must sign a service agreement and maintain an acceptable level of performance to remain eligible for this program.
Qualifications: ***KSA Recommendation - All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in your application may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA (found below) to demonstrate how you have gained each one in your application package or on a supplemental document***
Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Experience and Education
  • Experience: Six months experience of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position; OR
  • Education: One year above High School; OR
  • Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
• Certification: None Required
• English Language Proficiency: MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).
Grade Determinations:
Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6
Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level, which includes, but not limited to: Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports; Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients; Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting; Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work; Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers; and Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines (e.g. medical doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, clinical pharmacists, and nursing staff) to accomplish team goal setting to ensure medical care to patients is met.
• Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing, with internal and external customers. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels, as well as resolving patient concerns.
• Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process (including, but not limited to, scheduling across interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community models and patient health care portals) as it relates to access to care.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect patient flow, and patient support care [administrative functions] to include, but not limited to appointment cycles, outside patient referrals, follow-up care, overbooking, provider availability, etc.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06.
Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination
References: VA Handbook 5005/117 Part II, Appendix G45Education: IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.Employment Type: FULL_TIME